UNESCO joined the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s admission to the United Nations
On 3 March 2022, the Government of Turkmenistan organized an International Conference to mark the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s membership in the United Nations.
The high-level event which was titled: “Turkmenistan and the United Nations: Dialogue, Peace and Sustainable Development” was opened by H.E. Mr Resid Meredov, the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan and attended by high-level officials of Turkmenistan and representatives of UN regional and national offices in Turkmenistan as well as the diplomatic corps.
Ms Golda El-Khoury, the UNESCO designated Director of the UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office & Representative to Iran and Turkmenistan who addressed the Conference, referred to Turkmenistan’s contribution since its Membership in UNESCO in 1993, to the universal process of ensuring international peace and security, by declaring its permanent neutrality, which is very well aligned with the Preamble to the Constitution of UNESCO: “Since wars begin in the minds of men and women, it is in the minds of men and women that the defences of peace must be constructed.”
She further underlined the main achievements of Turkmenistan in cooperation with UNESCO and its dynamic engagement in different UNESCO programmes and intergovernmental mechanisms.
Ms El-Khoury also pointed out the Framework Agreement signed in 2015 between UNESCO and Turkmenistan, which covered peace and intercultural dialogue, education, cultural heritage and rapprochement of cultures, and its subsequent Memorandum of Cooperation for identification and financing of flagship initiatives for the period 2021-2023.
The UNESCO designated Director concluded by stressing UNESCO’s commitment to support Turkmenistan and its national priorities.
Before closing the Conference, H.E. Mr Meredov, congratulated Ms El-Khoury for her recent appointment and thanked UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office for promoting the initiatives of Turkmenistan in particular the movement for the culture of peace, in different international fora. He accentuated: “We have more to implement jointly in putting into practice the initiative of the President of Turkmenistan titled “Dialogue is a guaranteer of peace” that was put forward during the Peace and Trust Forum in December last year, that is especially relevant in today’s complicated world.”
Before the Conference, Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were signed between Turkmenistan and the United Nations on the cooperation for the realization of National Programme on Socio-economic Development of Turkmenistan until 2052, and the 2022 Joint Action Plan on Implementation of the MoU on the Cooperation in Disaster Risk Reduction, Emergency Preparedness and Response.